Index / Search / Carex canescens
§1 Plant
Carex canescens L.
vernacular silvery sedge — species · Cyperaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Graminoid
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Monocot
- Family
- Cyperaceae Juss.
- Genus
- Carex
§2a
Native status, by region
- AK Alaska Native
- CAN Canada Native
- GL Greenland Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
- SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native
§2b
County-level range
· 464 counties across 33 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- None
- Shade
- Medium
- Moisture use
- High
- Fire
- High
- Salinity
- None
- Anaerobic
- High
- CaCO₃
- Low
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -33 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 85 min.
- Precipitation
- 14–40 in/yr
- pH range
- 5.1–7.2
- Root depth
- 8 in min.
- Fertility need
- Low
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Lifespan
- Long
- Mature height
- 2 ft
- Foliage texture
- Fine
- Foliage colour
- Gray-Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Porous
- Porosity (winter)
- Porous
- Flower colour
- Green
- Fruit colour
- Brown
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Seed abundance
- Low
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Summer
- Spread rate
- Slow
- Stratify
- Yes
- Propagation
- seed, bare root, sprigs
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Routinely Available
- Nursery stock
- No
- Browse palatability
- Low
- Graze palatability
- Low
- Palatable, human
- No
- Protein potential
- Low
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 464 counties across 33 states/territories.
Alaska view state ↗ 20 N ▾
- Aleutians East 02013
- Aleutians West 02016
- Anchorage 02020
- Bethel 02050
- Chugach 02063
- Copper River 02066
- Denali 02068
- Dillingham 02070
- Fairbanks North Star 02090
- Haines 02100
- Kenai Peninsula 02122
- Kodiak Island 02150
- Lake and Peninsula 02164
- Matanuska-Susitna 02170
- Nome 02180
- Northwest Arctic 02188
- Sitka 02220
- Southeast Fairbanks 02240
- Yakutat 02282
- Yukon-Koyukuk 02290
Arizona view state ↗ 1 N ▾
California view state ↗ 10 N ▾
Colorado view state ↗ 22 N ▾
- Archuleta 08007
- Boulder 08013
- Chaffee 08015
- Clear Creek 08019
- Conejos 08021
- Douglas 08035
- Eagle 08037
- El Paso 08041
- Garfield 08045
- Gilpin 08047
- Grand 08049
- Gunnison 08051
- Jackson 08057
- La Plata 08067
- Larimer 08069
- Mesa 08077
- Park 08093
- Pitkin 08097
- Routt 08107
- Saguache 08109
- San Juan 08111
- Summit 08117
Delaware view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 6 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 15 N ▾
Maryland view state ↗ 12 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 48 N ▾
- Alger 26003
- Arenac 26011
- Baraga 26013
- Barry 26015
- Berrien 26021
- Calhoun 26025
- Cass 26027
- Charlevoix 26029
- Cheboygan 26031
- Chippewa 26033
- Clare 26035
- Eaton 26045
- Emmet 26047
- Genesee 26049
- Gogebic 26053
- Grand Traverse 26055
- Gratiot 26057
- Houghton 26061
- Huron 26063
- Ingham 26065
- Iosco 26069
- Iron 26071
- Jackson 26075
- Kalamazoo 26077
- Kent 26081
- Keweenaw 26083
- Leelanau 26089
- Livingston 26093
- Luce 26095
- Mackinac 26097
- Macomb 26099
- Marquette 26103
- Midland 26111
- Monroe 26115
- Montmorency 26119
- Newaygo 26123
- Oakland 26125
- Ogemaw 26129
- Ontonagon 26131
- Oscoda 26135
- Presque Isle 26141
- Roscommon 26143
- Schoolcraft 26153
- Shiawassee 26155
- St. Clair 26147
- St. Joseph 26149
- Tuscola 26157
- Washtenaw 26161
Minnesota view state ↗ 24 N ▾
- Aitkin 27001
- Anoka 27003
- Beltrami 27007
- Carlton 27017
- Cass 27021
- Chisago 27025
- Clearwater 27029
- Cook 27031
- Crow Wing 27035
- Douglas 27041
- Hennepin 27053
- Hubbard 27057
- Isanti 27059
- Itasca 27061
- Lake 27075
- Lake of the Woods 27077
- Mille Lacs 27095
- Morrison 27097
- Pine 27115
- Polk 27119
- St. Louis 27137
- Todd 27153
- Washington 27163
- Wright 27171
Montana view state ↗ 6 N ▾
Nevada view state ↗ 1 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 10 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 17 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 6 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 47 N ▾
- Albany 36001
- Allegany 36003
- Bronx 36005
- Broome 36007
- Cattaraugus 36009
- Chautauqua 36013
- Chenango 36017
- Clinton 36019
- Columbia 36021
- Cortland 36023
- Delaware 36025
- Dutchess 36027
- Erie 36029
- Essex 36031
- Franklin 36033
- Fulton 36035
- Hamilton 36041
- Herkimer 36043
- Kings 36047
- Lewis 36049
- Madison 36053
- Monroe 36055
- Nassau 36059
- Oneida 36065
- Onondaga 36067
- Ontario 36069
- Orange 36071
- Oswego 36075
- Otsego 36077
- Queens 36081
- Rensselaer 36083
- Richmond 36085
- Rockland 36087
- Saratoga 36091
- Schoharie 36095
- St. Lawrence 36089
- Steuben 36101
- Suffolk 36103
- Sullivan 36105
- Tioga 36107
- Tompkins 36109
- Ulster 36111
- Warren 36113
- Washington 36115
- Wayne 36117
- Westchester 36119
- Yates 36123
North Carolina view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 13 N ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 16 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 41 N ▾
- Allegheny 42003
- Beaver 42007
- Berks 42011
- Blair 42013
- Bradford 42015
- Bucks 42017
- Butler 42019
- Carbon 42025
- Centre 42027
- Clearfield 42033
- Clinton 42035
- Columbia 42037
- Crawford 42039
- Dauphin 42043
- Elk 42047
- Erie 42049
- Fayette 42051
- Forest 42053
- Franklin 42055
- Huntingdon 42061
- Juniata 42067
- Lackawanna 42069
- Lebanon 42075
- Lehigh 42077
- Luzerne 42079
- McKean 42083
- Mercer 42085
- Monroe 42089
- Northampton 42095
- Northumberland 42097
- Pike 42103
- Schuylkill 42107
- Snyder 42109
- Somerset 42111
- Sullivan 42113
- Susquehanna 42115
- Tioga 42117
- Venango 42121
- Warren 42123
- Wayne 42127
- Westmoreland 42129
Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Utah view state ↗ 12 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 12 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 12 N ▾
Washington view state ↗ 21 N ▾
- Chelan 53007
- Cowlitz 53015
- Ferry 53019
- Grays Harbor 53027
- Island 53029
- King 53033
- Kitsap 53035
- Kittitas 53037
- Klickitat 53039
- Mason 53045
- Okanogan 53047
- Pacific 53049
- Pend Oreille 53051
- Pierce 53053
- Skagit 53057
- Skamania 53059
- Snohomish 53061
- Thurston 53067
- Wahkiakum 53069
- Whatcom 53073
- Yakima 53077
West Virginia view state ↗ 7 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 36 N ▾
- Ashland 55003
- Barron 55005
- Bayfield 55007
- Brown 55009
- Chippewa 55017
- Clark 55019
- Crawford 55023
- Door 55029
- Douglas 55031
- Eau Claire 55035
- Florence 55037
- Forest 55041
- Iron 55051
- Jackson 55053
- Kewaunee 55061
- Langlade 55067
- Lincoln 55069
- Manitowoc 55071
- Marathon 55073
- Marinette 55075
- Monroe 55081
- Oconto 55083
- Oneida 55085
- Pepin 55091
- Polk 55095
- Portage 55097
- Price 55099
- Sauk 55111
- Sawyer 55113
- Sheboygan 55117
- Taylor 55119
- Vilas 55125
- Washburn 55129
- Waupaca 55135
- Waushara 55137
- Wood 55141
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/CACA11 ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/2722942 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z